A World Thought Fictional

codda got sight of the giant dridder lunging at him hand out... he evaded her arm jumping across to the counter covered with ingredients.. hiding near the back..

It was around here that Ben started to stir, but was having difficulties waking. The pain was still evident on his face with the squinting scowl on his face.

"Mhrrrr... Gnnnrrr." he mumbled as he half tristed imself around in an unconscious attempt to escape the pain in his legs.

He seemed to settle again after a moment.

"Wow, all those things you're talking about are really interesting, Ryan. It sounds like you humans have quite a culture." Liena said as she entered her cave. After she had walked through the dark tunnel for a bit, they came a giant room, her web in a corner with a couple of runes lying beside it. When she got near her web, she placed her hand on the ground, tilting it a bit to get the humans to walk off, which Brent immediately did, looking up at the dridder as she placed them on the ground. She also took Ryan and placed him on the ground as well, not wanting him to fall off of her

Once they were all off of her hand, she quickly took one of the runes on the ground and placed it on the ceiling, which began to glow, putting light into the once dark room. "Well, now that we got that out of the way, I'd like to know you humans a bit better." Liena said, sitting down in the ground in front of them, still holding Ben and Wal in her other hand. "From what Ryan told me, you're all from an alternate world where Felarya is completely fictional, right?" she asked, using her fingernail to scrape the webbing off of Wal made by Myrah.

Doug didn’t so much as walk off the hand as slide down it, landing with a small bump on the ground. He got up and dusted himself off. “Yeah, it’s a bizarre coincidence. I’m starting to think too bizarre,” Doug said, walking over to the web. He tested it with one hand to make sure it wasn’t sticky, then grabbed onto the edge and pulled himself onto it and lay down. “Not bad, this is more comfortable than I thought. Anyway, humans there don’t have just A culture, but many of them, each with their own habits, customs, foods, traditions, and such. Even within a single nation, there’s many different cultures.”

“Anyway, there’s no magic there, like that rune of light of yours. But technology has gotten a lot farther there than here. It’s advancing quite quickly at this point. You saw a bit of it with my suburban. We’ve got tools for just about any task you could think of.”

"Wow, that's amazing! I wish I could see your world. I bet it's really fascinating!" Liena stated, her eyes lighting up at what Doug said, obviously interested. When he mentioned the suburan, she immediately placed Ben and Wal on the ground and got up as she said, "Oh, right! I'll go get that vehicle of yours! I'll be right back!" And with that, she scuttled out of the cave as fast as she could, placing a web barrier over the entrance so no one could come in and snatch the humans.

"Well, guys, looks like we're in the clear for now. Anyway, it don't think we'll be staying with her forever. What do you guys reccomend we do when we part ways with her?" Brent asked, open to any suggestions.

Ryan was spreading out the skins when he heard brent's question. "I have been giveing that a lot of thought. My question is, will she let us part ways? She seems quite fond of us, me especaly. So will she even let us go?"

"The other question to consider is where do we go after we leave her company. If you ask me, I say we make for Negav. Once there, we can get our barrings and decide what to do from there. I also susgest we pull out every thing we have on us and make an inventory of what we have to use. Anything can be useful at some point. Even if it's just for trade, we need to know we have it in the first place."

After spreading out the skins and tracing patterns in it, he stood and looked at Brent. "You seem to know the most about her, so I am assuming she is your creation. Do you think she will let us leave, or will she help us get to where we need to get to?"

“Before we go there, Ryan, we should ask ourselves if we should leave,” Doug said, lounging on the dridder’s web. “If Lieta likes us, we should stay with her. The protection of a huge dridder isn’t something we should pass up. And frankly, right now, we’ve got little besides the clothes on our backs. We don’t have much to for skevols, or whatever the Negav equivalent of the dollar is. We don’t have any knowledge of the area, or any skills worth hiring. We don’t have a source of income.”

“We could do our planning right here, I’m sure Lieta must know a lot about the surrounding areas, she’s a valuable source of info, I think,” Doug said. “I vote that, for the time being, we stay with her. This Lair is probably one of the safest places for us right now.”

"Maybe...... But can we afford...... to hang around and do nothing........ ? We have.... to find a way back home, and our chances.... may not be that good....." Ben said as he was waking up, and already trying to find a way out of this nightmare.

But he could not move, he was pinned against the healing runestone, and his legs refused to move without greta pain.

"We don't have the survival skills, or the size, to survive this place without protection, your right. But do you really want a life, an immortal one at that, as a pet?"

Meanwhile back in Myrah’s lair.

“Come on out! I know you’re there somewhere,” Myrah said, rushing up to the counter and leaning over it, searching for Codda. “The lair is sealed anyway, there’s no way out for you. Just save us both the trouble and get out here.” Myrah looked carefully among the jars of ingredients, peering in between them for her elusive prey.

Codda leaped out of what seemed like nowhere landing on Myrah's head. "awww, things were just getting fun." he then jumped up and accidentally got stuck on a hanging web.. "damn, oh well." he said letting his body go limp waiting to be pulled off, still smiling as he looked at Myrah.

"Well, better a pet than dead." Brent said, replying to what Ben said. "Liena's not the type to hold us against our will, anyway. She would protest us leaving since we basically have no form of defense in this world whatsover. Besides, knowing Liena, she'd help us out in anyway she can. Heck, she could even help escort us to Negav City so we can take care of what we need to, then we could go back with her."

"Another thing is that I don't really feel like going home right now. I'm not saying that I don't want to go home, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime oppurtunity to explore a world that didn't even exist to us, to meet our characters that we created and interact with them. After all, a straight line may be the quickest route to a destination, but it's not the most intere..." Brent stopped in mid-sentence when he saw a red glow coming from behind him.

He turned around to see a humongous symbol forming itself on the cave floor, glowing a violent blood red as more lines appeared to complete the symbol. "...Um...you guys wouldn't happen to know what that is, do you?" Brent asked, feeling fear well up in him as the symbol was nearly complete.

“A pet to Lieta anyway,” Doug amended, “I could think of a few unsavory types I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. Bur right now, I’d say Liena’s the biggest advantage we’ve got. As for exploring, though, I think I’d just as soon get home. I’d rather explore this place from the safety of my computer. This place is fascinating, but let’s be honest with ourselves, we’re way out of our league here. I…” Doug stopped as he saw the red glow and the symbol forming. He began backing up from it, feeling decidedly uneasy, an unease that rapidly became fear.

“I…I don’t know,” Doug said, taking a second to find his voice. “Let’s just get the heck away from it.”

Ryan backed away as well as the symbol formed. "I don't know what it is either," he said, drawing his claymore, "but I can guess what it is. I'm just hoping I am wrong." He looked around, trying to keep a level head about things, but the truth was, he felt fear as well. It could have been the symbol or not, he wasn't sure. But he knew that panic was not an option. He even quoted the bible to himself to keep his mind strait, "Though i walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall not fear..."

Ryan looked at Ben, still lying by the stone rune. He looked at Doug. "Doug! Grab the dirt biker dude and follow us. Everybody, get deeper into the webbing. Maybe it will buy us some time before Liena shows up." He turned back to the symbol on the floor and prayed... "Whatever this is, God, please don't let it be a demon..."

By the time Ryan had finished his prayer, the symbol had completed itself, it's violent red glow now becoming brighter due to it's completion. The ground around the symbol then caved in, an intense heat coming from the newly created hole in the ground. A large feminine hand then ascended from the hole, grabbing the side of it. Brent assumed that whatever was coming from the hole was pulling herself up since he also heard feminine grunts coming from down below.

The being that owned the hand that grabbed the side of the hole had pulled herself up, revealing a succubus with brown hair and green eyes, with two black horns coming from her forehead, curving around her head and behind her ears. She hadn't noticed the humans, her top half sticking out of the hole as she peered into the tunnel that led out, trying to see something. Obviously, she hadn't found what she was looking for, her face changing into one of disappontment and agrravation, facepalming as she said, "Ugh, good grief! This is the fourth time in a row I've missed Liena. I'm never gonna see her at this rate!"

She looked up to see the light rune up on the ceiling. "That's odd." the succubus said to herself. "Why would Liena leave a light rune on when she's not here? Hmm...eh, she was probably just in a hurry and forgot to take it down. I'll just take it down for her and leave a no...huh?" The succubus had noticed the humans out of the corner of her eye, turning her head to face them. Brent only stayed frozen in fear, his blood running even colder as the succubus stared them down.

After awhile, the succubus adjusted her position so that her body faced them as well, giving the humans her undivided attention. "So what are you humans doing here?" she asked in an inquisitive tone, drumming her fingers against the cave floor as she waited for an answer.

"Hey, what's going on down there? I can't see anything from up here.. Is this Liena back yet?" Ben asked from the sling, still pinned by the rock, and legs partly healed.

Then he heard someone say something, and her words caved in his voice. "Oh crap" he thought

Doug was in the process of trying to stealthily climb up to Ben’s sling. When the succubus turned her attention their way, Doug couldn’t help but cringe and try to cover his head with an arm. He began to mumble a prayer to himself, as he shakily looked up to look at the demon. Her drumming fingernails sounded unnaturally loud on the stone floor as she gave them a look Doug could only interpret as annoyed. The color started to drain from his face. For a moment, his jaw worked silently, it took him a little bit to find his voice.

“P-Please, ma’am,” Doug said in a quaking voice after a moment. “Miss L-lieta brought us here. She left t-to get something of mine. A vehicle. Sh-she will be back s-soon…”

<><><><><>
Meanwhile in Myrah's lair...

Myrah started as the cheeky Codda suddenly landed on her head. Reacting quickly, she darted up a hand to snatch him off, but she grabbed nothing but her own hair as he leapt off. At first Myrah frowned in irritation, but that quickly changed to a grin as Codda got himself stuck in one of her webs.

"You're good. Maybe you could tell me how you did that before I eat you," Myrah said, seizing Codda in one hand. She started wrapping him in silk, trying to cocoon him before he could pull any other tricks.

codda kept a smile as he was grabbed.. holding a hand out of the webbing. "that not all i can do." with his hand out, he snapped his fingers and vanished out of the silk wrapping. it going limp as he vanished. he then stood on the floor out of sight. then he was reminded why he even came to her lair as his stomach growled at him. "maybe i can get some of stew stuff...."

The succubus stopped drumming her fingers on the floor as Doug spoke, keeping silent and not changing the expression of annoyance on her face. After he was done, she reached out for Doug, wrapping her fingers around his body and lifting him up to her face. After a few seconds, she said to Doug, "...Ma'am?"

Her facial expression then changed completely, a gentle smile coming onto her face as a soft chuckle came from her lips. "Please, no reason to be so formal with me, human. I was only asking you a question, is all." she stated, stroking his head with her finger for a moment, then setting him down. "Anyway, if what you say is true, you won't mind if I come in, do you? It's been awhile since I've seen my friend, and I want to surprise her." she said, flexing her wings for a moment.

Seeing as how the succubus was actually a bit friendly, Brent responded, "Well, I don't mind if they don't."

When the succubus grabbed him, Doug couldn’t help but cry out. He was chalk white and trembling all over when she brought him up to her face. “P-please, I-I’m t-t-telling th-the truth,” Doug stammered, barely able to get out his words in his sheer terror. The succubus could probably feel his heart racing.

He calmed only slightly when he saw her smile and chuckle. Her gentle stroking went farther towards relaxing him though. However, he was still shaking and pale when she set him down. He promptly laid down, holding his hands over his chest and breathing hard, trying to get his heart rate under control.

“Yes, by all means it’s fine, do what you want…” Doug said eventually. “God…I saw my life flash before my eyes…” He muttered silently to himself, still laying there and putting an arm over his eyes.

Ryan's eyes never left her, tracking each movement. He eased his claymore back into his sheath, but his hand never left the handle. Fact of the matter was, he didn't trust her. She was a demon after all. He crawled up higher into the webbing and sat watching her. It didn't matter to him that the demons and angels of this world were different from the ones in his, he still didn't trust her. So there he sat, not trusting her as far as he could throw her, with his hand on the hilt of his sword ready for anything.

"Will someone tell me what the heck is going on?! I'm pinned under a 'healing' rock in a damn web! I can't see!" Ben complained, furious and uncertain...

He had no idea what was going on, but hazard a guess that another giant female was down there.

Seeing Doug in his state of shock, Brent ran over to his side to see if he'd be okay. The succubus looked at him with a worried look as she asked, "Is he gonna be alright? I didn't mean to scare him THAT badly!" Brent looked up to her, saying, "He...should be fine. Might need a moment to relax, though." She nodded in acknowledgement, saying, "I understand. Anyway, thanks for letting me in."

With that, the succubus pushed herself out of the hole, her humongous foot setting down on the cave floor. Once her other foot was out, she sat down in lotus position as the hole closed back up. She was about to say something to the other humans when she heard someone yelling underneath what looked like a healing rune. She looked at Ryan, slowly reaching for the rune and Ben. She placed the rune on her palm so that Ben would be on top of it. "Mmm. Looks like your legs took quite a beating. Is the healing rune helping any?" she asked. "Oh, yeah. My name's Nok'tara in case you humans are wondering."

Brent had been pulling out some water from his backpack and had been about to offer it to Doug when he looked at Nok'tara in surprise. 'N-Nok'tara! But that means...she's the succubus character I created!! Good gravy, how many more of our characters are we going to meet anyway?!' he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Liena had been having a bit of trouble finding exactly where she had been when Myrah had attempted to catch the humans she had just met. "Ugh, this is ridiculous! I can't find that area to save my...ah! There it is!" she said to herself, approaching the fallen over tree that Doug had driven under. "Hmm...well, there's the marks the vehicle made, but no vehicle in sight. There isn't any other tracks, so another human didn't take the vehicle, which means..."

She then looked a little bit closer, and saw a couple of harpy marks on the ground. Upon seeing them, a smile came across her face as she began to head back to her home, saying, "Huh...looks like she's starting that vehicle collection after all."

“Sorry, it’s not just you ma’am,” Doug said, sitting up and gratefully taking the water from Brent. He took a drink from the canteen before handing it back. “I’ve been here for only a couple hours, and I’ve already been in a chase for my life, hooked like a fish and captured by a hungry dridder, left in the lair of another dridder, and now to top it off, I was grabbed and held a mere few feet from the mouth of a succubus who could eat my soul as an appetizer. So, if it’s alright with you all, I’m gonna retreat from reality a little bit, m’kay?” Doug added, lying back down.

“Still, I suppose I’m being rude. Good to meet you miss Nok’tara,” Doug said after a moment, still lying down. “I’m Doug. I’d offer to shake your hand, but I’ve already been shaken enough by it.”

Ben froze when he was gripped and went quiet.

but answered immediately when she said her name. "Nok'tara? I.... I know that name.... Oh! Wait.... Y.. Yeah... my bones are set again... but I won't be walking for a while... You umm you know a friend of mine it seems... I know your name...."

"It's alright. You go on ahead and get some rest." Nok'tara said to Doug, during which Brent put the canteen back in his backpack and pulled out a comic book to read. She then focused on Ben, saying to him, "Yeah, those healing runes may take awhile, but you'll be back to yourself relatively soon. So, human..."

She then readjusted herself once more, bringing Ben closer to her face and now stroking his face with the forefinger from her other hand. "...I'm curious, how did you come to know my name? We've never met before, and yet...I can sense a kind of familiarity emanating from you." She looked at Doug and Brent for a moment to say, "And you two as well." She then looked back at Ben, still petting his cheek with her finger.